Intonation and fundamental frequency in male-to-female transsexuals.
Twenty speakers, diagnosed as male-to-female transsexuals, produced conversational recordings of speech and voice. The samples were submitted to perceptual evaluations and to acoustic analysis by means of a Visi-Pitch, Apple IIe microcomputer system. Transsexuals categorized as having female voices had higher fundamental frequencies (fo), less extensive downward intonations, a higher percentage of upward intonations and downward shifts, and a smaller percentage of level intonations and level shifts than transsexuals categorized as having male voices. The lowest average fo identified as belonging to a female speaker was 155 Hz. Higher (more feminine) ratings on the masculinity-femininity dimension correlated with fo (r = .89), percentage of level shifts (r = -.67), percentage of downward shifts (r = .50), percentage of level intonations (r = -.43), and percentage of upward intonations (r = .40). Findings are discussed in terms of the relative perceptual salience of average fundamental frequency and patterns of intonation for female voice quality.
Wolfe
V I
VI
Speech and Hearing Clinic, Auburn University Montgomery, AL 36193.
Ratusnik
D L
DL
Smith
F H
FH
Northrop
G
G
D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013060:Speech; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D014189:Transsexualism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014831:Voice